Tuesday, January 31, 2012

More than 100 dolphins have stranded themselves along Cape Cod's 25-mile
coastline in the last three weeks, and the number is growing.

Two stranded common dolphins wait to be transported to a waiting vehicle
by a team from the
International Fund for Animal Welfare at Herring
River in Wellfleet, Mass., Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012.

Rescuers there say it's just about the worst they've ever seen. And scientists are still looking for answers. The alarming number of dolphins beaching themselves along the 25-mile
Cape Cod coastline was baffling scientists for a third week. On Monday, they responded to a call that three dolphins were approaching
shore. Two swam away unharmed, but one got too close to the beach and
needed intervention by rescuers from the International Fund for Animal
Welfare. The animal later died and, along with three more carcasses
discovered over the weekend, the number of dolphin beachings swelled to
102, nearly the normal amount for an entire year.Katie Moore, manager of the Marine Mammal Rescue Team, says she simply doesn't know why this is happening.
Marine biologist Misty Niemeyer has been examining the bodies of
dolphins that did not survive, looking for clues. "One thing it might
tell us," she explains, "is, if all of these animals do look healthy,
than we know that they were a healthy group of dolphins and that it was
more likely something geographic or weather-related, something like that
-- not an emerging disease or toxins or anything like that."

Two dozen of those stranded dolphins were saved and safely released back
into the ocean, with electronic tags enabling scientists to track their
movements.
While many of the dolphins have traveled far away from Cape Cod, the
already overworked rescue crews continue to monitor dozens of dolphins
that remain offshore in Cape Cod Bay.
Is this the most intense two-week period of Niemeyer's career?
"It's been about the most intense," she responded. "We've had a few
strandings like this in the past, but these last few weeks have
definitely been pretty intense as far as the numbers of animals that
have been coming in in a short period of time (is concerned)."
Scientists are scheduled to brief Congress on the situation later this week. - CBS News.

Drug growers in Mexico
are feeling the heat, but not from enhanced government security. A
harsh drought has reduced their crops of marijuana and opium poppies and
is forcing cartels to ramp of their production of other, synthetic
drugs.

A soldier stands guard among marijuana plants at an illegal plantation
found during a military operation
on Friday at the Culiacan mountains,
northern Mexico, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. The drought in northern
Mexico
is so bad that it has hurt even illicit drug growers and their normally
well-tended crops of
marijuana and opium poppies, Gen. Pedro Gurrola,
commander of army forces in the state of Sinaloa,
said Monday. (AP
Photo/Marco Ugarte) (AP2012)

One effect of the lack of rains is that drug planting has "declined
considerably," said Gen. Pedro Gurrola, commander of army forces in the
state of Sinaloa, the cradle of the drug cartel by the same name. Gurrola said army surveillance flights have detected fewer plantations than in previous years. "We can see a lot less than in other years," Gurrola told reporters.
"It depends a lot on conditions. As you can see, everything is dry."

Mexico's Drought Hurting Marijuana GrowersHe said planters were still trying to eke out crops. "They try to
adapt. Where there is a stream, a pit, they put pumps and hoses in there
and try to produce as much as they can." But an army spokesman, Gen. Ricardo Trevilla, stressed that didn't mean a drop-off in the overall production of drug cartels. Trevilla, who was interviewed separately, said cartels have been
increasingly turning to the production of synthetic drugs like
methamphetamine, because they are easier to produce and are more
profitable. He said synthetic drugs can be made faster, need less
storage space and are harder to detect.Jobless Mexicana Flight Attendants Pose for CalendarMexican authorities have been seizing increasing amounts of chemicals
used in the manufacture of methamphetamine as well as finding
increasingly large and sophisticated meth labs. Authorities seized 675
tons of a key precursor chemical in December alone, an amount that
experts say was enough to produce an enormous amount of drugs. - FOX News (Latino).

A burgeoning population of huge pythons - many of them pets that were
turned loose by their owners when they got too big - appears to be
wiping out large numbers of raccoons, opossums, bobcats and other
mammals in the Everglades, a study says.

A Burmese python is wrapped around an American alligator in Everglades National Park, Fla.

The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
found that sightings of medium-size mammals are down dramatically -
as much as 99 percent, in some cases - in areas where pythons and
other large, non-native constrictor snakes are known to be lurking. Scientists fear the pythons could disrupt the food chain and upset the
Everglades' environmental balance in ways difficult to predict. "The effects of declining mammal populations on the overall Everglades
ecosystem, which extends well beyond the national park boundaries, are
likely profound," said John Willson, a research scientist at Virginia
Tech University and co-author of the study.

Tens of thousands of Burmese pythons, which are native to Southeast
Asia, are believed to be living in the Everglades, where they thrive in
the warm, humid climate. While many were apparently released by their
owners, others may have escaped from pet shops during Hurricane Andrew
in 1992 and have been reproducing ever since.
Burmese pythons can grow to be 26 feet long and more than 200
pounds, and they have been known to swallow animals as large as
alligators. They and other constrictor snakes kill their prey by coiling
around it and suffocating it.

The National Park Service has counted 1,825 Burmese pythons that have
been caught in and around Everglades National Park since 2000. Among the
largest so far was a 156-pound, 16.4-foot one captured earlier this
month.
For the study, researchers drove 39,000 miles along Everglades-area
roads from 2003 through 2011, counting wildlife spotted along the way
and comparing the results with surveys conducted on the same routes in
1996 and 1997.

The researchers found staggering declines in animal sightings: a drop of
99.3 percent among raccoons, 98.9 percent for opossums, 94.1 percent
for white-tailed deer and 87.5 percent for bobcats. Along roads where
python populations are believed to be smaller, declines were lower but
still notable.
Rabbits and foxes, which were commonly spotted in 1996 and 1997, were
not seen at all in the later counts. Researchers noted slight increases
in coyotes, Florida panthers, rodents and other mammals, but discounted
that finding because so few were spotted overall. "The magnitude of these declines underscores the apparent incredible
density of pythons in Everglades National Park," said Michael Dorcas, a
professor at Davidson College in North Carolina and lead author of the
study.

Although scientists cannot definitively say the pythons are killing off
the mammals, the snakes are the prime suspect. The increase in pythons
coincides with the mammals' decrease, and the decline appears to grow in
magnitude with the size of the snakes' population in an area. A single
disease appears unlikely to be the cause since several species were
affected.
The report says the effect on the overall ecosystem is hard to predict.
Declines among bobcats and foxes, which eat rabbits, could be linked to
pythons' feasting on rabbits. On the flip side, declines among raccoons,
which eat eggs, may help some turtles, crocodiles and birds.

Scientists point with concern to what happened in Guam, where the
invasive brown tree snake has killed off birds, bats and lizards that
pollinated trees and flowers and dispersed seeds. That has led to
declines in native trees, fish-eating birds and certain plants.
In 2010, Florida banned private ownership of Burmese pythons. Earlier
this month, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a federal ban
on the import of Burmese pythons and three other snakes. Salazar said Monday that the study shows why such restrictions were needed.
"This study paints a stark picture of the real damage that Burmese
pythons are causing to native wildlife and the Florida economy," he
said.
- Yahoo.

Even if it has been warmer than usual in much of the United States,
there's no denying Alaska is seeing a real winter, even by its
standards.

Downtown Anchorage, Alaska, has seen a snowy and icy winter, including this scene from January 18.

Anchorage is shivering through one of its coldest January's on record,
while in Fairbanks, folks preparing for a sled dog race were being
tested by temperatures nearly 50 degrees below zero. Farther inland,
Fort Yukon has ranged from minus 50 to minus 62 degrees over the last
three days, getting close to its record of minus 78. Downtown Anchorage, Alaska, has seen a snowy and icy winter, including this scene from Jan. 18.

Anchorage's average temperature for January has been 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, the Alaska Daily News
reported. That's well below its average of 15 degrees, and only three
other years (1947, 1925 and 1920) have been colder, National Weather
Service data show.

It's so cold for Anchorage, the Daily News reported, that:

Cross country ski practices by the Junior Nordic League have been
canceled due to temps dipping below the official cut-off of minus 4
degrees.

Tow trucks are so busy helping folks with dead car batteries that it can take up to four hours to get service.

Some schools have had only a handful of outdoor recess days this month.

In Fairbanks, where the Yukon Quest sled dog race starts on Saturday,
some racers have had a hard time moving their trucks around due to a freeze that kept engines from starting, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.

Fort Yukon, for its part, dipped to 62 degrees below zero on Saturday, then hit 59 below on Sunday, the National Weather Service reported.

The deep freeze is in addition to the record snow and blizzard
conditions seen earlier this month in towns like Cordova and Valdez.
Even Anchorage is on track to see a record snow season, having received more than twice its average amount so far.
- MSNBC.

UPDATE: Bitter Cold Records Broken in Alaska!

While the continental USA has a mild winter and has set a number of high temperature records in the last week
and pundits ponder whether they will be blaming the dreaded “global
warming” for those temperatures, Alaska and Canada have been suffering
through some of the coldest temperatures on record during the last week. For example in Circle Hot Springs, AK on Sunday, 29 Jan 2012 the
HIGH temperature was a blistering -49°F, breaking the -44°F record
which has stood since 1917. It gets better.
That same day in Circle Hot Springs the low temperature was -58°F
breaking the old record of -52°F set in 1941 by six degrees.

Surf's up! Gigantic waves up to 35 feet high drew hoards of spectators and
surfers to the shores of Oahu on Monday, with more monstrous swells
expected today.

Known to the locals as "winter waves," the massive breakers even
forced the postponement of the Volcom Pipe Pro surfing competition along
the island's North Shore. A large northwest swell was responsible for the monstrous waves on
the north- and west-facing shores of the Hawaiian islands. The energy
driving the waves was even making for some hearty waves on the leeward
Kona Coast of the Big Island. A powerful Pacific storm and its associated cold front approaching from the west is stirring the big waves.
A few hearty surfers ventured out into the huge swells on Monday
evening at Waimea, hoping to catch the perfect wave. For some, the power
of the ocean proved to be too much. "First wave for me out there, not really sure what happened. But the end result was I dislocated my hip," surfer Charlie Herr told HawaiiNewsNow.com. Scores more enjoyed the waves from a safe distance onshore.

The show will continue today, albeit with slightly smaller waves.
Small, is a relative term though, with surf expected to remain as high
as 15 to 30 feet, down from 25 to 40 feet on Monday. Local officials noted that the forecast was somewhat conservative, as
some waves will be more than twice as high as the significant wave
height forecast! - Accu Weather.

The following is an interview of Professor Elchin Khalilov, a Geophysicist, who works in the area of geodynamics and geotectonics. In the discussion with the GeoChange Journal, he provides his own theory and explanation for the strange sound phenomena heard across the Earth. In addition, he also forecasts what the answer means for the geology of the planet.

Mr. Khalilov, what is the nature of the unusual very low-pitched
sounds reported by a great number of people in different parts of the
planet since the summer of 2011? Many call them "The Sound of the
Apocalypse". Information about that comes from all over the world: US,
UK, Costa Rica, Russia, Czech Republic, Australia, etc.

We have analyzed records of these sounds and found that most of their
spectrum lies within the infrasound range, i.e. is not audible to
humans. What people hear is only a small fraction of the actual power of
these sounds. They are low-frequency acoustic emissions in the range
between 20 and 100 Hz modulated by ultra-low infrasonic waves from 0.1
to 15 Hz. In geophysics, they are called acoustic-gravity waves; they
are formed in the upper atmosphere, at the atmosphere-ionosphere
boundary in particular. There can be quite a lot of causes why those
waves are generated: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes,
storms, tsunamis, etc. However, the scale of the observed humming sound
in terms of both the area covered and its power far exceeds those that
can be generated by the above-mentioned phenomena.

In that case, what could be causing this humming in the sky?

Professor Elchin Khalilov.

In our opinion, the source of such powerful and immense manifestation of
acoustic-gravity waves must be very large-scale energy processes. These
processes include powerful solar flares and huge energy flows generated
by them, rushing towards Earth's surface and destabilizing the
magnetosphere, ionosphere and upper atmosphere. Thus, the effects of
powerful solar flares: the impact of shock waves in the solar wind,
streams of corpuscles and bursts of electromagnetic radiation are the
main causes of generation of acoustic-gravitation waves following
increased solar activity.

Given the surge in solar activity as manifested itself in the higher
number and energy of solar flares since mid-2011, we can assume that
there is a high probability of impact of the substantial increase in
solar activity on the generation of the unusual humming coming from the
sky. It should be pointed out that solar activity began to rise sharply
since early 2011, with its amplitude significantly higher than all
forecasts given by a number of influential scientific institutions in
2010 and 2011. Meanwhile, the observed increase in solar activity is
fully consistent with the forecast of the International Committee GEOCHANGE
published in the Committee's Report in June 2010. If this growth rate
of solar activity continues, its amplitude by the end of 2012 will be
higher than the amplitude of 23rd solar cycle, and in 2013-2014 the
solar activity will reach its peak the amplitude of which was predicted
by us to be 1.5 - 1.7 times higher than the amplitude of the 23rd cycle.

But you said that the cause of the "sky hum" can lie within Earth's core as well, what does it mean?

There is one more possible cause of these sounds and it may lie at the
Earth's core. The fact is that the acceleration of the drift of the
Earth's north magnetic pole which increased more than fivefold between
1998 and 2003 and is at the same level today points to intensification
of energy processes in the Earth's core, since it is processes in the
inner and outer core that form the Earth's geomagnetic field. Meanwhile,
as we have already reported, on November 15, 2011 all ATROPATENA
geophysical stations which record three-dimensional variations of the
Earth's gravitational field almost simultaneously registered a powerful
gravitational impulse. The stations are deployed in Istanbul, Kiev,
Baku, Islamabad and Yogyakarta, with the first and last one being
separated by a distance of about 10,000 km. Such a phenomenon is only
possible if the source of this emanation is at the Earth's core level.
That huge energy release from the Earth's core at the end of the last
year was some kind of a start signal indicating the transition of the
Earth's internal energy into a new active phase.

Intensification of the energy processes in the Earth's core can modulate
the geomagnetic field which, through a chain of physical processes at
the ionosphere - atmosphere boundary level, generates acoustic-gravity
waves the audible range of which has been heard by people in the form of
a frightening low-frequency sound in different parts of our planet.

In both cases, even though the causes of acoustic-gravity waves are of a
quite understandable geophysical nature, they are indicative of the
expected significant increase in solar activity and the geodynamic
activity of our planet. There is no doubt that processes in the core
rule the internal energy of our planet, therefore, we should
expect by the end of 2012 a sharp rise in strong earthquakes, volcanic
eruptions, tsunamis and extreme weather events with peak levels in 2013 -
2014.

Recently, researchers using NASA's fleet of five THEMIS spacecraft have discovered a form of space weather that packs the punch of an earthquake and plays a key role in sparking bright Northern Lights. They call it "the spacequake."

A spacequake is a temblor in Earth's magnetic field. It is felt most strongly in Earth orbit, but is not exclusive to space. The effects can reach all the way down to the surface of Earth itself. "Magnetic reverberations have been detected at ground stations all around the globe, much like seismic detectors measure a large earthquake," says THEMIS principal investigator Vassilis Angelopoulos of UCLA.

It's an apt analogy because "the total energy in a spacequake can rival that of a magnitude 5 or 6 earthquake," according to Evgeny Panov of the Space Research Institute in Austria. Panov is first author of a paper reporting the results in the April 2010 issue of Geophysical Research Letters (GRL). In 2007, THEMIS discovered the precursors of spacequakes. The action begins in Earth's magnetic tail, which is stretched out like a windsock by the million mph solar wind. Sometimes the tail can become so stretched and tension-filled, it snaps back like an over-torqued rubber band. Solar wind plasma trapped in the tail hurtles toward Earth. On more than one occasion, the five THEMIS spacecraft were in the line of fire when these "plasma jets" swept by. Clearly, the jets were going to hit Earth. But what would happen then? The fleet moved closer to the planet to find out.

Around 49 metric tons of fish have been found floating dead in Lake Sebu in South Cotabato province.

The local Tilapia fish, in 50 cages, was valued at 3.8 million pesos, said Rex Vagas, provincial fishery coordinator. He said 46.5 tons of Tilapia were found dead last Friday and 2.5 tons on Monday. He attributed the massive death of fish to "annual occurrence," which locals call "kamahong" when water temperature rises during this period. "We ask consumers to avoid buying and eating Tilapia fish from Lake Sebu until further notice from us," Vargas said.

Rogelio Aturdido, a provincial health officer, said eating dead Tilapia fish might cause abdominal discomfort and diarrhea. The provincial agriculture office said the oxygen level in Lake Sebu had been depleted because of overstocking and water pollution, probably from fish feeds. Fish cage operators were told by the agriculture office to temporarily stop feeding the surviving fish for at least a week to allow water's oxygen level to return to normal. Around 13 tons of Tilapia died last July under similar circumstances. - PHIL Star.

The New South Wales Government has declared five natural disaster zones in the state's north after days of severe flooding.

Stuck ... Sam and Josie Townsend are pictured on a flooded roadway as
they wait for their friends whose home is cut off, to arrive by boat, at
Maclean, north of Grafton on the NSW mid-north coast.

Emergency Services Minister Mike Gallacher declared the zones for the Bellingen, Byron, Kyogle, Lismore and Richmond Valley local government areas this evening. The announcement unlocks government funding to help pay for repairs. "This weather system has caused a lot of damage to critical infrastructure, property and road networks," Mr Gallacher said in a statement. The government would monitor other flood-affected areas and declare further natural disaster zones if necessary, he said. Around 1500 people remain isolated by the floods, which began on January 24. "About 1250 are on the mid-north coast and north coast of NSW," State Emergency Service (SES) spokesman Phil Campbell said. He said most should have access restored by tomorrow.

The 250 residents of Goodooga, north of Bourke, are expected to be isolated for two more days. The state opposition criticised the government for not declaring natural disaster zones sooner. "A timely declaration of a natural disaster is vital in allowing local councils to assess damage, clean up debris and fix roads and other infrastructure," opposition primary industries spokesman Steve Whan said. Although there have been no flood rescues in the past 24 hours, helicopters, flood boat crews and volunteers remain on high alert in flood affected regions. "There's a long list of new river systems affected by potential flooding in the coming days," Mr Campbell said. "The biggest concern for us coming in late tomorrow and Thursday will be the Macleay River, where there is the potential for moderate to major flooding. "There's also the potential for major flooding around the Orara River behind Coffs Harbour, affecting several rural properties. "Things could ramp again from late tomorrow." The Pacific Highway has now reopened at Grafton after heavy rain and localised flooding closed it late last week. - Herald Sun.

Heavy rain has brought more flooding to northern New South Wales, with two people rescued from swollen inland waterways this morning. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a fresh flood watch for many rivers inland and along the north and mid-north coasts. The State Emergency Service's controller for the Namoi region, Kath Cain says the two rescues this morning came after heavy falls. "We've had reports of up to 300 millimetres of rain around the Brigalow Creek area, out near Cuttabri and towards Pilliga," Ms Cain said. "We've had one person who managed to get through one creek this morning and then couldn't get any further, so he was stranded between two creeks. "We've also had one person who drove around a road closed sign on the Old Bingara Road. They got bogged, so that person has also been rescued." The SES has renewed its advice for people not to enter flooded causeways or creeks.

The weather bureau says there is a 70 per cent chance of moderate to major flooding in the Gwydir, Bellinger, Nambucca and Macleay valleys. An SES spokesman for the Oxley region, Steve Hart, says door-knocking has begun to warn residents living along the Lower Macleay. "Especially to the farmers, we're just asking them to monitor the weather system," Mr Hart said. "If they've relocated some of their livestock from last week's event, if they can hold off moving everything back in at this stage. "Let's just see over the next 48 hours what does happen." Late yesterday the New South Wales Government declared a natural disaster across five local councils in the state's north. The Emergency Services Minister Mike Gallacher extended the declaration across the Bellingen, Byron, Kyogle, Lismore and Richmond Valley local government areas. The move unlocks assistance for residents, businesses and farmers to recover from the flooding.

Today Mr Gallacher said more more declarations are likely, as reports have not yet come through from some of the hardest-hit areas. "There is a good possibility that I'll be declaring the Tweed Valley a natural disaster area, today in fact," Mr Gallacher said. "I expect that report will be put to me this afternoon. I haven't seen anything finalised in relation to Grafton, but there's no doubt, as the flood waters recede and as councils are in a position to get around to look at bridges and other infrastructure, it will become evident that this was a significant rain event." - ABC.

An international research team studied ancient plants from Iceland and Canada, and sediments carried by glaciers. They say a series of eruptions just before 1300 lowered Arctic temperatures enough for ice sheets to expand. Writing in Geophysical Research Letters, they say this would have kept the Earth cool for centuries. The exact definition of the Little Ice Age is disputed.

Plants trapped under Iceland's icecaps store a record of ancient temperatures.

While many studies suggest temperatures fell globally in the 1500s, others suggest the Arctic and sub-Arctic began cooling several centuries previously. The global dip in temperatures was less than 1C, but parts of Europe cooled more, particularly in winter, with the River Thames in London iced thickly enough to be traversable on foot. What caused it has been uncertain. The new study, led by Gifford Miller at the University of Colorado at Boulder, US, links back to a series of four explosive volcanic eruptions between about 1250 and 1300 in the tropics, which would have blasted huge clouds of sulphate particles into the upper atmosphere. These tiny aerosol particles are known to cool the globe by reflecting solar energy back into space.

"This is the first time that anyone has clearly identified the specific onset of the cold times marking the start of the Little Ice Age," said Dr Miller. "We have also provided an understandable climate feedback system that explains how this cold period could be sustained for a long period of time." The scientists studied several sites in north-eastern Canada and in Iceland where small icecaps have expanded and contracted over the centuries. When the ice spreads, plants underneath are killed and "entombed" in the ice. Carbon-dating can determine how long ago this happened. So the plants provide a record of the icecaps' sizes at various times - and therefore, indirectly, of the local temperature. An additional site at Hvitarvatn in Iceland yielded records of how much sediment was carried by a glacier in different decades, indicating changes in its thickness.

Putting these records together showed that cooling began fairly abruptly at some point between 1250 and 1300. Temperatures fell another notch between 1430 and 1455. The first of these periods saw four large volcanic eruptions beginning in 1256, probably from the tropics sources, although the exact locations have not been determined. The later period incorporated the major Kuwae eruption in Vanuatu. Aerosols from volcanic eruptions usually cool the climate for just a few years. When the researchers plugged in the sequence of eruptions into a computer model of climate, they found that the short but intense burst of cooling was enough to initiate growth of summer ice sheets around the Arctic Ocean, as well as glaciers. The extra ice in turn reflected more solar radiation back into space, and weakened the Atlantic ocean circulation commonly known as the Gulf Stream. "It's easy to calculate how much colder you could get with volcanoes; but that has no permanence, the skies soon clear," Dr Miller told BBC News. "And it was climate modelling that showed how sea ice exports into the North Atlantic set up this self-sustaining feedback process, and that's how a perturbation of decades can result in a climate shift of centuries." Analysis of the later phase of the Little Ice Age also suggests that changes in the Sun's output, particularly in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum, would also have contributed cooling. - BBC.

Within a week of each other, the sun has thrown off two rounds of massive solar flares. The second, recorded on Jan. 27, was the strongest flare recorded this year and emanated from the same area as the last flare, which caused the worst solar radiation storm in eight years.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory and the Solar Heliospheric Observatory were among several spacecraft that recorded the strongest flare to erupt from the sun's surface thus far this year. The flare exploded into space on the afternoon of Jan. 27 (1:37 p.m. EST), according to Space.com, and scientists labeled it an X-class eruption, the worst kind of solar flare. Luckily, the location of the eruption, sunspot 1402, was facing away from the Earth. Scientists believe there will still be heightened levels of radiation from the coronal mass ejection (CME, the charged particles sent into space by the solar flare) but do not believe they pose a threat. "The radiation storm will almost certainly be weaker," Doug Biesecker, a physicist at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, told SPACE.com. "The coronal mass ejection seems to be headed well away from Earth, which is good because this one seems like a bigger beast than the last one, but that's still preliminary."

Scientists designated the flare an X1.7. By comparison, last week's eruption was ranked as an M9 flare, which is still considered a mid-range flare (but close to the borderline with the more powerful X-class). The last massive solar flare also erupted from sunspot 1402, a region of the sun that has shown increasing activity of late. Erupting on Jan. 22, that particular flare sent electromagnetic particles streaming toward Earth, bombarding the planet with waves of charged particles beginning on Jan. 24. According to the Space Weather Center (per Space.com), the resulting storm was the worst radiation storm since 2003. Scientists still considered the radiation storm "moderate." The solar flare that set off the solar storm in 2003 was ranked an X45 by NASA. The most powerful ever recorded, as can be seen listed on Space.com, was the 2006 X-class flare that registered an X9 on the space weather scale.

The sun's activity and other space weather conditions are monitored by NASA to determine any potential hazards to astronauts. This once included the shuttle astronauts but since the shutdown of the U. S. manned spaceflight program in 2011, reports are conducted solely for those aboard the International Space Station. A NASA spokesman, Kelly Humphries, noted that the six space denizens currently in orbit were not in any imminent danger. Solar flares and storms are also monitored due to their potential for disrupting the operations of satellites in space, not to mention power grids and communications infrastructure on Earth. Scientists see the increased activity thus far in 2012 as a ramp-up to the an even more active period in 2013. The sun's activity ebbs and flows in an 11-year cycle, which is approaching solar maximum. - Huliq.

WATCH: NASA SDO - January 2, 2012 Eruption.

As the sun approaches solar maximum in 2013, new light has been shed upon the effect of solar events on our planet’s magnetosphere, according to a study to be published in Nature Physics on Jan. 29. Astronomers at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) have discovered that most of the electrons in the Earth’s outer radiation belt vanish at the start of a geomagnetic storm, only to reappear a few hours later. This doughnut-shaped region is full of energetic electrons traveling at almost light speed. “It’s a puzzling effect,” said study co-author Vassilis Angelopoulos in a press release. “Oceans on Earth do not suddenly lose most of their water, yet radiation belts filled with electrons can be rapidly depopulated.” Originally noticed by scientists in the 1960s, the team elucidated this mystery using data collected from a fleet of orbiters, including NASA’s THEMIS spacecraft (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms).

“What we are studying was the first discovery of the space age,” said study co-author Yuri Shprits in the release. “People realized that launches of spacecraft didn’t only make the news, they could also make scientific discoveries that were completely unexpected.” A 2006 study suggested that the electrons could be lost to the interplanetary medium. However, the new research shows that some of the electrons fall into our atmosphere, but most are pushed away from Earth as solar wind particles from geomagnetic storms begin to bombard the radiation belt. “This is an important milestone in understanding Earth’s space environment,” said study lead author Drew Turner in the release. “We are one step closer toward understanding and predicting space weather phenomena.”

When the sun undergoes events such as coronal mass ejections, highly charged particles strike Earth’s magnetic field, causing geomagnetic storms that can damage satellites needed for weather monitoring, communications, and global positioning. Understanding the effects of solar activity on Earth’s radiation belts can help to protect these satellites and astronauts traveling through the belts who are highly at risk from such radiation. “While most satellites are designed with some level of radiation protection in mind, spacecraft engineers must rely on approximations and statistics because they lack the data needed to model and predict the behavior of high-energy electrons in the outer radiation belt,” Turner said. “As a society, we’ve become incredibly dependent on space-based technology,” he concluded. “Understanding this population of energetic electrons and their extreme variations will help create more accurate models to predict the effect of geomagnetic storms on the radiation belts.”UCLA researchers are now working with scientists at Russia’s Moscow State University to measure these high-energy electrons with greater accuracy using the Lomonosov spacecraft, which is planned to launch this spring. - The Epoch Times.

It is believed that a glacial outburst flood (jökulhlaup) occurred in the Grímsvötnvolcano
in Vatnajökull yesterday as the river Gígjukvísl was dark in color in
the afternoon and commuters smelled sulfur in the air by the bridge
across the Ring Road in south Iceland.

However, according to Morgunblaðið, the glacial outburst is not considered to be a matter of concern. Heavy rain and high temperatures in the past days after
excessive snowfall caused snow to melt, damaging parts of the Ring Road
between Núpsvötn and Gígjukvísl in Skeiðarársandur, as well as to the east of Gígjukvísl, Fréttablaðið reports.The police in Hvolsvöllur asked
drivers passing through Skeiðarársandur yesterday to be careful; in the
afternoon there was a risk of the road being cut. At that point the
rain had subsided after continuous downpour between Hvolsvöllur and Kirkjubæjarklaustur.The highest rainfall was recorded in Kvísker in Öræfi,
south Iceland, 97.8 millimeters, and the temperature rose to 15.2°C
(59.4°F) in Siglufjörður, north Iceland, Morgunblaðið reports. According to weather forecasts, the heaviest rainfall has
passed and it doesn’t appear that roads will suffer any further
damages. Repairs began yesterday afternoon. Today, road conditions are slippery.

The island of Hispaniola, which includes the nations of Haiti and the
Dominican Republic, may soon experience a period of strong earthquakes
on par with the one that ravaged Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas
two years ago, according to a report by a report by a U.S. Geological Survey researcher.

USGS seismologist William Bakun, who spent the past two years
studying the region, suggests that more quakes of a similar magnitude
will take place in the near future, citing the region’s cyclical history
of seismic activity in his 58-page manuscript for the Bulletin of the
Seismological Society of America. “The 2010 Haiti earthquake may mark the beginning of a new cycle of
large earthquakes on the Enriquillo fault system after 240 years of
seismic quiescence,” he said, referring to the fault lines that lie
under Hispaniola. The fault system, Bakun writes, “appears to be
seismically active; Haiti and the Dominican Republic should prepare for
future devastating earthquakes there.”
Bakun and his team noted there were a number of powerful quakes of
magnitudes from 6.6 to 7.5 that struck the fault, beginning in 1701 and
ended in 1770. They found no evidence of significant earthquakes on the
Enriquillo fault in the 200 preceding years nor since—until 2010. The seismologists used stories from the many European and African
island settlers that were recorded to note the quakes’ intensity,
location, and other aspects. They discovered that the series of devastating quakes that struck
Haiti in the 18th century started with the one on Nov. 9, 1701, the
epicenter of which was very near the 2010 quake. Bakun points out that the fault lines underneath the San Francisco
Bay and surrounding areas in California have experienced seismic
activity similar to the Enriquillo fault, with a period of intense
activity followed by a period of relative calm. In the past several weeks, low-to-moderate quakes have hit the
Dominican Republic but there have been no reports of damage or injuries.

Ill-Prepared Then and Now.

The Jan. 12, 2010, the magnitude-7.0 earthquake killed at least 300,000 people in Haiti and left more than a million displaced. “The magnitude 7.0 Jan. 12, 2010, Haiti earthquake devastated
Port-au-Prince, largely because the city was not prepared. Southern
Haiti had been seismically quiet in living memory,” said the report. The United Nations estimates that 500,000 Haitians remain displaced
and many are still living in tents in the city, so another massive quake
could be catastrophic. “Building materials and construction practices in Hispaniola have
likely been poor in both the near and the distant past,” the report
stated. The January quake wrought significant damage to Port-au-Prince
“because many structures were vulnerable to even modest levels of
earthquake shaking,” it added.According to independent journalist Giordano Cossu, who co-authored a
Web documentary on post earthquake reconstruction in Haiti called “Goudou Goudou, The Ignored Voices of Reconstruction,” Haiti will be just as ill-prepared today if another quake hits any time soon. Cossu says he and Haitian journalist Ralph Joseph with ENDK radio
asked several local institutions what would happen in the event of
another quake. “Most avoided to give a direct answer, but their
hesitation was as meaningful to us,” Cossu commented via email. Even two years later, there is still no centralized plan, no rules or
bodies to oversee anti-seismic construction, and the money and training
required to build safer structures are both desperately lacking. “Despite the greater awareness of earthquake risks today people are
confronted with hard choices: those who have the means, will accept
spending money to live in a ‘safe’ house, where as the majority of the
population will have to make do with what they can. Until the next
earthquake,” says Cossu. - The Epoch Times.

The International Geodynamic Monitoring System, a part of GNFE (London, UK), has registered on November 15, 2011 a powerful energy release emanating from the Earth's core. The intense three-dimensional gravitational anomaly was almost simultaneously recorded by all ATROPATENA geophysical stations separated by vast distances from each other in the following cities: Istanbul (Turkey), Kiev (Ukraine), Baku (Azerbaijan), Islamabad (Pakistan) and Yogyakarta (Indonesia).

According to GNFE President Professor Elchin Khalilov, the detailed analysis of ATROPATENA station records indicates a powerful energy release emanating from the Earth's core. According to the scientist, this fact may herald intensification of geodynamic processes in our planet and as a result, a higher number of strong earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis.

As GNFE President Professor Elchin Khalilov told WOSCO news agency, ATROPATENA earthquake forecasting stations record particular three-dimensional gravitational anomalies that occur, on average, 3-7 days before strong earthquakes. These anomalies are generated by the passingof tectonic waves (stress waves) under the stations; they are emitted by the focuses of imminent large earthquakes at the moment when the stresses in them reach critical values.

Atropatena Crystal Kh11 earthquake forecasting station.

These waves travel very slowly, their velocity ranging from an average of 30 km/h on the continents up to 120 km/h in the oceanic crust. The stress waves are of low frequency and their period ranges from several hours to two days on average, making it impossible for seismic stations to detect them. Of course, the ATROPATENA stations record the passing of these waves with a large time difference, which helps monitor their movement and,with quite high accuracy, calculate the location of the epicenter area of the expected earthquake.

Meanwhile, 15 November 2011 all ATROPATENA stations registered, almost simultaneously,a very powerful gravitational impulse. A detailed analysis of all records of the stations led to the conclusion that this might be possible only if the source of the stress waves was in the Earth's core. According to the scientist,such an impulse could be caused by a powerful energy burst in the Earth's interior, at its core. This process may result in the accelerated movement of lithospheric plates and, consequently, strong earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and other geological cataclysms. - Geo Change Journal.

I have often highlighted the excellent articles of Roger Marsh from the National UFO Examiner in my news headlines, but I had to insert the following piece in post form, given the amazing eye-witness report of ten holographic-like UFO spheres over South Carolina.

Illustration - not the object witnessed in South Carolina, from the National UFO Examiner story.

A South Carolina witness reports watching 10 spheres
"moving erratically with flashing white lights and a low flying
triangle-shaped object, according to January 26, 2012, testimony from
the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database. The reporting witness was first alerted to the objects by a phone call from a friend who lived 20 miles away. "I went outside and to the west I saw about 10 spheres
moving erratically with flashing white lights," the witness stated.
"These lights moved in all directions including around each other. The
night sky was so clear it was only the second time I was able to see
Milky Way with bare eyes." The witnesses' wife joined him outside and two minutes later they observed another object. "She pointed out a large triangle-shaped object with three lights on
each tip. The object was only a quarter-mile above the ground and it was
traveling very slowly and noiseless." The witness described the object's movement.

"We watched this triangle continue its path due west and after five
minutes or more, just as it was almost out of sight, it began returning
in our direction and passed by my house again now to my north watching
it for a total of 15 minutes." There appeared to be additional witnesses pursuing the craft as this witness reports unusual activity on his street. "I live on a dead end street and had people on my road trying to
chase it down. Just as I lost sight of it for the first time, it was
about to go over the ocean. At my house here we are lucky to have a very
good unobstructed view for miles in all directions without trees even
interfering. We live on a dead end road with only three homes past mine
and the road is not finished yet because it has not been developed. The
only cars to pass my house daily are the people living on my road, but
while this was going on, at one point, had 11 vehicles turning around." The events were followed by helicopter traffic in the area.

"We did not hear noise or smells. Twenty minutes after losing site of
everything, I began to hear helicopters around my area. I went back
outside and saw three helicopters with one other one that was quite
large - and appeared to be using a spotlight." No town name was mentioned in the public portion of the MUFON report,
which was filed on January 26, 2012. The events occurred beginning at 7
p.m. on January 24, 2012. No photos or videos were included with the
report. The above quotes were edited for clarity. South Carolina is a current UFO ALERT 4 rating, with
a higher than average number of UFO sightings nationally. South
Carolina had 14 reports in December, the 13th highest reporting state -
while California had 63 reports in December 2011 - the highest reporting
state in the nation.

You can read more details about other recently reported cases at the UFO Examiner home page.
Following is the unedited and as yet uninvestigated reports filed with
MUFON. Please keep in mind that most UFO reports can be explained as
something natural or manmade. If South Carolina MUFON State Director Cheryl Ann Gilmore investigates and reports back on this case, I will release an update. Please report UFO activity to MUFON.com.

SC, January 24, 2012 - Triangle shape with 3lights along with many single spheres in sky. MUFON Case 35252.

At 7pm on January 24,2012 i received a phone call from a friend that
was20 miles from me and he said he was looking at a UFO above his house.
I went outside and to the west I saw about ten spheres moving
ereadically with flashing white lights. These lights moved in all
directions including around each other. The night sky was so clear it
was only the second time I was able to see milky way with bare eyes. 2
minutes after going outside my wife joined me outside and to our south
she pointed out a large triangle shaped object with 3 lights on each
tip. The object was only a quarter mile above the ground and it was
traveling very slowly and noiseless. we watched this triangle continue
its path due west and after 5 minutes or more, just as it was almost out
of sight it began returning in our direction and passed by my house
again now to my north watching it for a total of 15 minutes. I live on a
dead end street and had people on my road trying to chase it down. Just
as I lost sight of it for the first time it was about to go ver the
ocean. At my house here we are lucky to have a very good unobstructed
view for miles in all directions without trees even interfering. We live
on a dead end road with only 3 homes past mine and the road is not
finished yet because it has not been developed. The only cars to pass my
house daily are the people living on my road, but while this was going
on,at one point had 11 vehicles turning around. We did not hear noise or
smells. 20. Minutes after loosing site of everything i began to hear
helicopters around my area. I went back outside and saw 3 helicopters
with 1 other one that was quite large. And appeared to be using a
spotlight. - National UFO Examiner.

Temperatures are set to plunge as low as -11C this week as Arctic winds bring in a big freeze with ice and snow expected to blanket the countryside, forecasters said today.

Parts of Britain were waking up this morning to up to two inches of snow as the longest spell of cold weather so far this winter sets in. The chill is being caused by a high pressure system hanging over Scandinavia and western Russia which is set to push raw, easterly winds towards the UK as the week progresses. The west of England and Wales was covered in snow overnight and the Met Office has warned up to four inches of snow could yet fall on higher ground. They have issued a warning of severe cold weather across much of England until at least Thursday. Paul Mott, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, said: 'There has been a sprinkling of snow overnight over parts of Wales, Devon, Somerset and Hampshire. 'It has mainly been over hills - with accumulations of up to 5cm in some areas - but there have also been some falls on lower ground locally. 'There will be some fairly wet snow falling over the hills of Gloucestershire, Somerset and south Wales this morning but it will struggle to settle so shouldn't cause too many transport problems.' Mr Mott said the mercury could plummet to as low as -10C in rural parts of central England on Thursday night, with average day time readings only reaching 3C-4C. Elsewhere, BBC Radio 5 Live reported that temperatures could fall as low as -11C.

Mr Mott said: 'The nights will be really cold throughout the week and there will be the occasional snow shower over the eastern counties of England, eastern Scotland and even London.' Police in Devon and Cornwall yesterday warned motorists in some parts of the region not to travel unless it is essential after snowfall over the higher areas of Exmoor and Dartmoor. The Department of Health issued a 'Level 2' cold-weather alert running for the next two to three days, which is triggered when low temperatures give rise to significant health risks. It warned that low temperatures can especially be dangerous for the young and the elderly or those with chronic disease. Yesterday the countryside was glazed in snow, frost and mist. Ducks were pictured skirting across the water in the icy waters of Derwentwater, near Keswick, in the Lake District. Dan Williams, of the Met Office, said: ‘This is certainly the longest run of colder weather we will have seen so far this winter. 'There’s cold air pushing in from the east, and it’s looking very wintry over the next few days and might last for the first half of February.’ Meanwhile, residents all over the country were bracing themselves for the Siberian weather front heading for Britain. Residents in a Cornish village have bought their own snowplough and gritter after they were cut off for a week in a blizzard during previous winters. The Badgall and Laneast Action Group (Blag), have raised £2,650 to buy the plough and mechanical salt spreader. Two farmers in the area have been designated to operate them during heavy snowfall. Blag said residents 'voted with their pockets' after being cut off during the last two winters.

Spokesman Paul Stephenson said: 'If you're out in the rural areas the main roads are beautifully clear, but our parish is split into a hamlet and village either side of a ridge with a steep hill on one side and open moorland. 'The situation is that there is just not the resources for the Highways to cope with the snow, we just have to wait, and the reality is waiting up to a week before there is clearance of our road. But we're not trying to emulate the speed and ferocity of the Highways team.' He said there were many retired residents in the area so 'we were very keen to mechanise' the removal of snow rather than relying on manpower. And motorists were being urged to be vigilant against thieves who are cashing in on the cold weather by looking for drivers who hate getting into an icy car. Police said the thieves - usually working in a team of two - park in a side street when people are leaving to go to work. Many drivers nip outside and de-ice their windscreens, and leave their engines running to warm up the car while they pop back indoors for one last cup of coffee. One thief sneaks from their getaway car, dives into the motor with the engine running and they both tear off before the owner can run outside to stop them. Detectives said in a recent incident - in Northampton - a car owner heard their vehicle being driven away at speed after going back into the house for a brief moment.

A police spokeswoman said: 'It is vital that vehicles are clear of frost and snow before driving, but we would always advise motorists to stay with their vehicle whilst de-frosting, even if it's parked on their front driveway. 'People may assume that nothing will happen in a few minutes, however what might only seem like a few minutes in the house, can provide the small window of time an opportunistic thief needs. 'This type of crime is preventable and we urge members of the public to allow extra time to safely clear their windscreens in the morning.' While many prefer to stay in a warm house during the cold spell, for others the plunging temperatures have brought out their adventurous side. Rowers in Henley-on-Thames, in Oxfordshire, took to the water yesterday to train as mist descended over the town, and cross country motorcyclist became not-so-easy riders as they carefully followed a steep hillside trail in formation, in Nenthead, Cumbria. Other amblers and cyclists, in Yorkshire and Northumberland, were undeterred by the icy conditions and were spotted enjoying the great outdoors. And the Four Shires Bloodhounds braved the elements yesterday as they took to the snowy hills of Derbyshire, near Hartington.

Led by Heidi Critchlow, the hounds and horses chased the scent of a human quarry, over the Peak District moorland. Today's 'hunting' was described as exceptionally good with the cold weather making it ideal for the hounds to follow the runner's scent. It would seem all bets are off if you are hoping to take a gamble on the cold weather. Bookies William Hill have trimmed the price of 2012 seeing the coldest ever recorded temperature from 16/1 to 14/1 in Scotland, after a run of money over the weekend. Hills also offer 16/1 that the record cold temperature in England, -26.1c recorded in Shropshire 1982, is beaten. Hills are 50/1 that the Houses of Parliament are closed for weather reasons. Hills spokesman Rupert Adams said: 'The latest forecast suggests that February could be foul and punters are predicting that our coldest temperature records could tumble.' On Monday a slow-moving band of rain with hill snow in western parts will continue, before cold, and bright conditions with isolated showers push westwards towards midweek.

Over the next couple of weeks, the weather is forecast to be mostly settled and cold leading up to the first weekend, especially towards the southeast of England, with widespread overnight frost and some wintry coastal showers towards the east. However, northwestern parts will soon become cloudier, more unsettled, but milder with spells of rain and some snow, the snow mainly on hills. Although there is considerable uncertainty, the bright, cold conditions will probably continue for a time into the second week in the east. The unsettled but milder conditions in the west will probably spread erratically further east with time, introducing spells of rain and some snow, again mainly on hills. This progression may be coupled with strong winds and possibly gales in northwestern parts. The cold spell breaks what has so far been one of the warmest winters on record. Forecasters said it was becoming increasingly likely that the freezing temperatures would stick around and even last through the whole of February. George Goodfellow of the Met Office said: ‘It seems like we are edging toward a scenario where lower temperatures last for the next four weeks. It is going to be a contrast to the weather we have had this winter. Widespread frosts and snow could affect large areas.’ He said the wintry weather was a result of ‘a cold air mass moving across from Siberia’. There are fears that the sudden onset could bring travel chaos and catch many drivers off guard. AA spokesman Luke Bodett said: ‘We have had a very mild winter so far and motorists need to get into their winter mindset from today. It is going to be important not to charge around in the way they may have been used to and be prepared for the unexpected.’ The Met Office has briefed government departments and local councils about the cold period so that extreme weather plans can be put on standby. - Daily Mail.

Billy Kirk had an out of this world experience when he saw a UFO in skies above his Scarborough home in scenes reminiscent of Roswell.

An artist's impression of the moment Billy Kirk spotted a UFO in the night sky.

Billy, from Ewart Street off Seamer Road, described seeing an intense white light, which was stationary, hover temporarily before it shot off at “thousands of miles an hour”. Scarborough UFO expert Russ Kellett added weight to Billy’s claims when he revealed that he had heard several similar descriptions of unexplained objects seen in the Seamer Road area.

Billy said: “I’m still in shock. I can only describe it as a big ball of light. I was scared, I just ran in the house and said to my girlfriend ‘I’m not going back out there’. I didn’t know what to think. “I’ve never been a big believer in things like that but I can’t explain it. It definitely wasn’t the Northern Lights, an aircraft or a Chinese lantern. I’ve thought of everything.

“I didn’t want to say anything at first but I thought it should be reported. It could be a danger to our airspace.” Billy, who works for Senior Glass Systems in Eastfield, is now keen to find out if anyone else noticed the UFO, which he saw at around 10pm on Monday.

Mr Kellett added: “Stationary objects taking off like that just shouldn’t happen. It couldn’t have been a shooting star or anything like that. “Around the Oliver’s Mount area we have had some very strange stories about balls of light. I’ve heard similar accounts to Billy’s in the past.”

A continuous round of freezing rain in Xifeng County, Guizhou Province has made life difficult for locals by cutting off water supplies.

Gaofeng village is situated at more than 3900 feet above sea level, the highest in Xifeng County's Shitong Township, so freezing temperatures are nothing new here. But for 84-year old villager Zhu Shaohua, all of the water in his two supply buckets has frozen. Water would not flow out from Zhu's tap even after he warmed the pipes with hot water. So he’s forced to walk to the local village water station almost a mile away.

[Zhu Shaohua, Local]: "It takes me almost an hour to fetch the water, but what I bring back is only enough for one day." In Gaofeng village, heavy snow and freezing rain began last week, destroying crops and covering electric lines with thick ice. The freezing rain usually lasts until mid-February. - NTD TV.

Most parts of China will continue to be in the grip of cold with temperatures remaining low over the next few days, according to China's meteorological authority Wednesday. Snowy weather is forecast to continue in the country's southern regions, and freezing rain is expected to hit parts of Guizhou and Hunan provinces, the National Meteorological Center said in a statement on its website. Parts of the country's northwest areas expected to see light snow or drizzle. Meanwhile, fog will shroud most parts of the country's southern areas Wednesday morning, reducing visibility in parts of Yunnan, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang provinces to less than 1,000 meters, while smog is forecast to hit some areas of Jiangsu Province, according to the statement.

In southwestern Guizhou Province, freezing rain has threatened the power supply in some regions as 124 major power lines were coated with heavy ice, according to the Guizhou Grid Corporation. More than 2,000 maintenance workers were put in place across the province to prevent the ice from affecting normal supply of electricity, said a spokesman with the company. The cold weather is predicted to linger through the week-long Spring Festival holiday, challenging operations of the power grid, according to the spokesman. In the southern Guangdong Province, more than 100 counties and cities have issued warnings of low temperatures and icy roads by Wednesday, which is rare in the subtropical province. Some counties in north Guangdong issued red warnings, the highest levels of weather alerts, according to the provincial meteorological administration. - China.org.

"We live in a world where there is still a huge amount of economic and financial fragility." - Dr Nouriel Roubini.

Economist Nouriel Roubini, nicknamed 'Dr. Doom' for his gloomy predictions in the run-up to the financial meltdown four years ago, says the fallout from that crisis could last the rest of this decade. Dr Roubini, widely acknowledged to have predicted the crash of 2008, sees tough times ahead for the global economy and is warning that without major policy changes things can still get much worse. He said the biggest uncertainty is the possibility of a conflict with Iran over its nuclear program that involves Israel, the United States, or both.

That could lead oil prices now hovering around $100 a barrel to spike to $150 per barrel, he said, and lead to a global recession. 'There are lots of sources of uncertainty from the Eurozone, from the Middle East, from the fact that the U.S. is not tackling its own fiscal problem, from the fact that Chinese growth is unbalanced and unsustainable, relying too much on exports and fixed investments and high savings, and not enough on consumption. 'So it's a very delicate global economy,' Dr Roubini said. Until Europe radically reforms itself and the U.S. gets serious about its own debt mountain, the world economy will continue to stumble along to the detriment of large chunks of the world's population who will continue to see their living standards under pressure, even if they have a job. Dr Roubini, a professor of economics and international business at New York University, spoke in an interview this week at a dinner on the side-lines of the World Economic Forum, where he is one of the hotly pursued stars. Looking at economic prospects this year, he agreed with the International Monetary Fund's latest forecast that the global economy is weakening and said he might be 'even slightly more bearish' on its prediction of 3.3 per cent growth in 2012.

He painted a grim picture of the Eurozone in recession and key emerging markets in China, India, Brazil and South Africa slowing down, partly related to weakness in the Eurozone. He predicted that the U.S. economy, the world's largest, will grow by just 1.7-1.8 per cent this year, with unemployment remaining high. The government, he added, was 'kicking the can down the road' and not taking measures to increase productivity and competitiveness. 'We live in a world where there is still a huge amount of economic and financial fragility,' he said. 'There is a huge amount of uncertainty -- macro, financial, fiscal, sovereign, banking, regulatory, taxation -- and there is also geopolitical and political and policy uncertainty.' Unemployment and economic insecurity have become big issues from the Mideast to the Occupy Wall Street movement in the U.S., and protests from Israel and India to Chile and Russia -- and at the same time there is rising inequality between rich and poor.

'All these things lead to political and social instability,' he said. 'So we have to reduce inequality. We have to give growth to jobs, skills, education, and increase human capital so workers can compete.' Dr Roubini called for a major change in policy priorities. 'We have to shift our investment from things that are less productive like the financial sector and housing and real estate to things that are more productive like our people, our human capital, our structure, our technology, our innovation,' he said. Dr Roubini said slow growth in advanced economies will likely lead to 'a U-shaped recovery rather than a typical V,' and it may last for another three to five years because of high debt. 'Once you have too much debt in the public and private sector, the painful process could last up to a decade, where economic growth remains weak and anaemic and sub-par until we have cleaned up the balance sheet and invested in the things that make us more productive for the future,' he said. - Daily Mail.

Meanwhile, Ilargi, from the popular financial blog The Automatic Earth, cites a report that "will blow up the Euro Zone". This is a very long read, but I assure you, it is worth it.

No, I’m not talking about the fact that Germany and Holland want to take
over as the de facto government in Greece, as Noah Barkin writes for Reuters (that they want to do it through Brussels is a mere technicality).

Germany is pushing for Greece to
relinquish control over its budget policy to European institutions as
part of discussions over a second rescue package, a European source told
Reuters on Friday.

"There are internal discussions within the
Euro group and proposals, one of which comes from Germany, on how to
constructively treat country aid programs that are continuously off
track, whether this can simply be ignored or whether we say that's
enough," the source said.

The source added that under the
proposals European institutions already operating in Greece should be
given "certain decision-making powers" over fiscal policy. "This could
be carried out even more stringently through external expertise," the
source said.

The Financial Times said it had obtained a copy of
the proposal showing Germany wants a new euro zone "budget commissioner"
to have the power to veto budget decisions taken by the Greek
government if they are not in line with targets set by international
lenders.

"Given the disappointing compliance so far, Greece has
to accept shifting budgetary sovereignty to the European level for a
certain period of time," the document said. Under the German plan,
Athens would only be allowed to carry out normal state spending after
servicing its debt, the FT said.

Ilargi:
Nor do I mean the report from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy
that Ambrose Evans-Pritchard cites for the Telegraph, and which implies a
second bailout for Portugal is looming near:

Portugal is fighting a losing battle
to contain its public debt and may be forced to impose haircuts of up to
50pc on private creditors, according to a top German institute.

A
report for the Kiel Institute for the World Economy said Portugal would
have to run a primary budget surplus of over 11pc of GDP a year to
prevent debt dynamics spiralling out of control, even in a benign
scenario of 2pc annual growth.

"Portugal's debt is unsustainable.
That is the only possible conclusion," said David Bencek, the
co-author, warning that no country can achieve a primary budget surplus
above 5pc for long. "We won't know what the trigger will be but once
there is a decision on Greece people are going to start looking closely
and realise that Portugal is the same position as Greece was a year
ago."

Yields on Portugal's five-year bonds surged on Thursday to a
record 18.9pc, reflecting fears that the country will need a second
rescue from the EU-ECB-IMF Troika. Three-year yields hit 21pc.

Ilargi: Or even the true meaning behind the steep drop in the Baltic Dry Index, on which Sebastian Walsh reports for Financial News:

Statistics from the Office of
National Statistics this morning showed that the UK went into reverse in
the last quarter of 2011, when the economy shrank by 0.2% – but as the
Baltic Dry Index shows, the global economy is looking even more
worrying.

The index – often used as a proxy for the health of
the global economy as it reflects the prices charged for shipping
commodities such as metals, coal or grain around the world – has fallen
by 61% since October. The index was at 842 at yesterday’s close – down
from its 12-month high of 2173 last October.

Nick Bullman,
managing partner at risk consultant Check Risks, said the index is a
good way of looking at the risks to the global economy, "as it tends to
be where they hit first".

According to Bullman, its initial
collapse in October was driven primarily by a fall-off in demand from
China, where declining housing prices pushed purchasing managers to cut
back on orders for the raw materials whose transport the Baltic Dry
Index reflects.

He said: "This collapse looks similar to the
falls we saw in the Baltic Dry ahead of the recessions of the late 1970s
and early 1990s – but this drop is actually steeper."

Bullman
added that it was also a more direct indicator of global economic health
than government-produced statistics. "Personally, I’m not interested in
employment data and GDP figures because they’re manipulated," he said.
[..]

Bullman said that shipping companies have also been deliberately slowing down their journeys to save fuel, with trips from China to the US going now taking around 50% longer than they were early in 2011.

Instead,
he said he was surprised by how long the Baltic Dry took to fall. The
NewContex index – an indicator of prices for transporting products in
container ships – started falling in April last year. Bullman said:
"When we saw that happening in April, we realised that risks had
returned to pre-2008 levels. We thought the Baltic Dry would start
falling too, but it was actually relatively resilient."

"What this is signalling is that the world economy is slowing down much more quickly than people have been thinking."

Ilargi: The report I refer to in the title requires a little background info:

In
Holland, where I'll be for a few more days, there's a "rogue"
right-wing party named PVV (Party for Freedom). It has no cabinet
ministers, but the minority moderate right-wing government needs its
support to stay in the saddle. The PVV, like other European
right-wingers, is, among many other things, against much of what the
European Union stands for. It's certainly against the Euro, and the
bailouts with Dutch taxpayer money of countries like Greece and
Portugal.

A few months ago, the PVV announced they had
commissioned a report from British financial consultancy firm Lombard
Street Research on the economic consequences of staying in the Eurozone
versus returning to the guilder.

That report is about to be
published "within days". It will prove to be highly explosive material.
And the PVV will do all it possibly can to make sure it receives a lot
of media attention. It may tear down the incumbent government, which is a
heavy advocate of all things Europe, and which will have to quit once
the PVV support dies, but for that party that's not the no. 1 concern.

And
if and when Holland has a large scale discussion on the report and the
issues it raises, Germany won't be able to ignore it and stay behind.
And then, neither will France.

Max Julius of Citywire.uk did a piece on the report, without mentioning it directly, 10 days ago:

Germany and the Netherlands are
likely to quit the eurozone rather than swallow an indefinite number of
'unrequited transfers' to the union’s crisis-stricken nations, according
to Charles Dumas, chief economist at Lombard Street Research.

Speaking
at an event in central London, he said that before joining the single
currency, German incomes had stayed level but their purchasing power had
increased as the Deutschmark appreciated. With the weaker euro, the
economist said, they have seen 'tremendous' wage restraint, leading to
huge growth in German firms’ market share but ‘no serious growth of the
economy’ and a squeeze on disposable incomes. Meanwhile, consumption
rose elsewhere in the eurozone, he said.

'So what you’re actually
dealing with here... is a German population which has had a rotten deal
– and that’s why they’re all so angry' noted Dumas, who is also
chairman of the macroeconomic forecasting consultancy. Branding the
monetary union a 'suicide pact', he continued: 'So what this exercise in uniting Europe has achieved is to divide Europe.'

This
would amount to €150 billion a year, of which Germany would have to
stump up just over €60 billion, France a little under €50 billion and
€15 billion from the Netherlands, he said. And this would be on top of
the shortfall in consumer spending, in addition to the fact that wages
and consumption may have to be held down in the future, Dumas warned.

Ilargi: This morning, Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad
cited Dumas as saying these numbers are "cautious estimates". They are
valid only if Greece and Portugal would leave the Eurozone in 2012 -
which Dumas expects will happen -. If they don't, the payments will be
even higher.

He predicts the costs of a return to the guilder
will be much less than for instance the Dutch government's Central
Planning Bureau claims, which warns of huge losses if Holland were to
leave the Euro.

Dumas: "It's just like in a religion: first they promise you heaven, and if that doesn't work out, they threaten you with hell."

The economist dismissed the notion
that the region would be able to turn itself around so as to make such
support from its 'core' unnecessary. Citing the example of the
persisting transfers from west to east Germany, he pointed out: 'The
ones that need the money to flow in carry on needing the money to flow
in, or just stay poor.'

Dumas also warned that austerity was only
worsening Greece’s budget deficit, and that it was 'difficult to
imagine' the deeply indebted state receiving the four quarterly batches
of financing it is due this year. ‘It’s almost impossible to imagine
people continuing to stump up the money, because they simply have not
actually gone into this thing with the intention of unrequited transfers
to Greece ad infinitum,’ he said as the country resumed talks with its
creditors over a planned debt swap.

Calling the one-off damage of
splitting up the eurozone 'seriously exaggerated', Dumas warned that as
the crisis deepens, he believes 'Germany and the Netherlands will
actually realise that they had better call it a day and jump out.'

Ilargi: Sure,
the Dutch government, and certainly the EU and the banking system, have
formidable PR machineries at their disposal. We’ll see a lot of numbers
being floated that contradict Lombard's report. And we'll have to wait a
few days to see exactly what numbers Dumas et al. come up with.

But
the people of Germany and Holland are already very nervous about the
fact that they face austerity and budget cuts while billions of euros
are transferred to southern Europe. Up until now, the fear of economic
disaster predicted in unison by government leaders have kept them quiet.
Now that a reputable economic research firm flatly contradicts these
predictions, and states that, instead, it's staying within the Eurozone
that will be the far more costly option, the people will grow
increasingly restless.

Charles Dumas again, from Algemeen Dagblad:

"The Dutch people have lost thousands of euros in purchasing power per year since the currency was introduced."

Governments in Berlin and The Hague will have a lot of explaining to
do. They have to do so against a backdrop of (near-)failing Greek debt
swap talks, which will at the very least force them to admit that they
have a lost tens of billions in taxpayer money to Club Med countries
already.

With a second Portugal bailout waiting in the wings.
And lots of negative news on Italy and Spain. And more domestic budget
cuts.

They’ll realize that their governments have painted far
too rosy pictures about the issues so far. And they’ll expect them to
deliver more of the same. This is what we call a receding trust horizon.

It's
not the report alone, it's the entire combination of factors. The
report will "merely" serve as the catalyst that blows up the powder keg.
It may take a few months, but it will happen. The publicity hungry
rogue PVV party that commissioned it, followed by anti-Eurozone voices
elsewhere, will make sure of that. - Business Insider.

UPDATE: US Anticipates May As Tentative Date For Clash With Iran?!

A hurried decision not to de-commission the USS Ponce helicopter marine carrier after duty in Libya - but to refit it for deployment by May in the Persian Gulf as a floating base for commando teams - was confirmed by the US Pentagon and Navy Sunday, Dec. 29. This transportable floating base will expand the commandos' range in coastal areas and support counter-measure against mines which Iran has threatened to plant in the Strait of Hormuz in reprisal for the US-EU oil embargo. The SEALs will also take on Iran's menacing fleet of military speedboats.

Debkafile reports Tehran operates four different kinds of these craft in the Persian Gulf: 1. Small, fast vessels, each armed with a small missile for striking tankers and coastal oil targets around the Gulf region, such as export terminals. Earlier this month, Tehran claimed to have developed stealth cruise missiles capable of disabling aircraft carriers with a single shot.2. Small, extra-fast boats armed with torpedoes. Iranian publications claim several such boats are capable of stealing up on US aircraft carriers and large warships from several directions without being detected and cause serious damage. 3. Floating bombs for kamikaze missions. These fast boats cannot be deflected after locking in on target, whether on sea or shore, and explode on contact. Iran used these floating missiles piloted by suicide squads to attack oil tankers in the Gulf in November 1987. Since then, their naval tacticians have upgraded this fleet with the technology gained from the British Bladerunner 51, a model of which Iran purchased some years ago.Since early January, the Pentagon has reported four cases of harassment by Iranian military boats sailing close to American warships in the Persian Gulf.4. Boats carrying teams of Iranian marine frogmen trained for secret suicide underwater missions: One member of the boat's three-man crew dives close to the targeted ship and attaches a magnetic bomb to its hull.

Iran has scattered hundreds of speedboats of different types around uninhabited islands off the Iranian mainland, tucking them out of sight in well-hidden inlets and bays. The US commando teams based on the Ponce platform will have the task of ferreting out and destroying this fleet.The US Defense Department aims to get the Ponce ready for its new mission as a floating commando base with all possible speed. To save time, the US military published one no-bid contract for the engineering work, waiving normal procurement rules on the grounds that any delay presented a "national security risk." The contract carries pointers to the timeline expected in Washington for a military confrontation to erupt between the United States and Iran, as well as the form it may take, say debkafile's military sources. The target date for deploying the commando platform in the Persian Gulf in four or five months indicates Washington is preparing for military clashes to blow up with Iran in the late spring or early summer.

But according to debkafile's Iranian and military sources, the Iranian administration has expressed its determination to respond instantly to any diplomatic or military move or action of an offensive nature against the Islamic Republic. And so confrontation may come earlier than anticipated.Sunday, the Iranian parliament was due to vote on a motion to cut off oil supplies to Europe in response to the EU embargo declared last week. Tehran has made it clear it has no intention of standing idle until US and European oil sanctions go fully into effect on July 1 and knows that EU nations are not set up to forego 400,000 barrels of oil a day right now. Saudi Arabia, which pledged to make up the shortfall arising from oil sanctions against Iran, will not have the missing quantities on stream before May – at about the same time as the Ponce and its complement of SEAL commandoes are due to take up position in the Persian Gulf. Tehran may decide not to wait and opt for letting its speedboats loose before then to try and pre-empt American and European plans. - DEBKA.